Cinderella Man

This article is about the film by Ron Howard. For the song by Rush, see Cinderella Man (song). For the South Korean drama, see Cinderella Man (TV series).

Cinderella Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ron Howard
Written by	Cliff Hollingsworth Akiva Goldsman
Produced by	Brian Grazer Ron Howard Penny Marshall
Starring	Russell Crowe Renée Zellweger Paul Giamatti Bruce McGill Craig Bierko
Cinematography	Salvatore Totino
Edited by	Daniel P. Hanley Mike Hill
Music by	Thomas Newman
Production companies	Imagine Entertainment Parkway Productions
Distributed by	USA/Canada Universal Pictures International Touchstone Pictures Miramax Films
Release date	June 3, 2005 (2005-06-03)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$88 million
Box office	$108,539,911

Cinderella Man is a 2005 American drama film by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny Marshall, and Brian Grazer. Damon Runyon is credited for giving Braddock this nickname. Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti star.

Plot

James J. Braddock is an Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender, who is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. This is both a relief and an upset to his wife, Mae: she cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet she knows they will have no good income without his boxing.

As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even after badly breaking his hand. Unfortunately, he cannot get work every day. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould, offers him a chance to fill in for just this one night and make a little money. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin.

Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Against his wife's wishes, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife also have been devastated by hard times.

With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man", and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression.

A title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring. He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston, forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against.

Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, she becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She cannot bring herself to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio.

On June 13, 1935, in one of the biggest achievements in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

A graphic at the end of the film reveals that Braddock worked on the building of the Verrazano Bridge, and that he later owned and operated heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression. Also, he and Mae used the winnings to buy a house, where they spent the rest of their lives.

Cast

• Russell Crowe as James J. Braddock
• Renée Zellweger as Mae Braddock
• Paul Giamatti as Joe Gould
• Bruce McGill as James Johnston
• Craig Bierko as Max Baer
• Paddy Considine as Mike Wilson
• David Huband as Ford Bond'
• Connor Price as Jay Braddock
• Ariel Waller as Rosemarie "Rosy" Braddock
• Patrick Louis as Howard Braddock
• Rosemarie DeWitt as Sara Wilson
• Linda Kash as Mrs. Gould
• Nicholas Campbell as Sporty Lewis
• Gene Pyrz as Jake
• Chuck Shamata as Father Roddick
• Ron Canada as Joe Jeanette
• Alicia Johnston as Alice
• Troy Amos-Ross as John Henry Lewis
• Mark Simmons as Art Lasky
• Art Binkowski as Corn Griffin
• David Litzinger as Abe Feldman
• Matthew G. Taylor as Primo Carnera
• Rance Howard as Announcer Al Fazin

Production

During filming in Toronto, several areas were redressed to resemble 1930s New York. The Richmond Street side of The Bay's Queen Street store was redressed as Madison Square Garden, complete with fake store fronts and period stop lights. A stretch of Queen Street East between Broadview and Carlaw was also made up to appear to be from the 1930s and dozens of period cars were parked along the road. Maple Leaf Gardens was used for all the fight scenes, and many scenes were filmed in the Distillery District. Filming also took place in Hamilton, Ontario at the harbour for the dock workers' scene. The main apartment was shot north of St. Clair Avenue on Lauder Avenue on the east side. An awning was put up for a dress shop, later turned into a real coffee shop.

The Toronto Transit Commission's historic Peter Witt streetcar and two more cars from the nearby Halton County Radial Railway were used for the filming, travelling on Toronto's existing streetcar tracks.

Release

In a campaign to boost ticket sales after the film's disappointing opening, AMC Theatres advertised on June 24, 2005 that in 30 markets (about 150 theaters nationwide), it would offer a refund to any ticket-buyer dissatisfied with the film. The advertisement, published in The New York Times and other papers and on internet film sites, read, "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy Cinderella Man we're offering a Money Back Guarantee." The promotion moderately increased box office revenue for a short period, while at least 50 patrons demanded refunds. Following suit, Cinemark Theatres also offered a money-back guarantee in 25 markets that did not compete with AMC Theaters. AMC had last employed such a strategy (in limited markets) for the 1988 release of Mystic Pizza, while 20th Century Fox had unsuccessfully tried a similar ploy for its 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street.

Reaction

Critical reception and box office

The film received good reviews from most critics. Rotten Tomatoes judged it "Certified Fresh" with a score of 80%, based on reviews from 207 critics. Metacritic gives the film a score of 69% based on reviews from 40 critics.

Despite critical acclaim, it was a box office disappointment during its first several weeks. During its North American theatrical run, the film (which cost $88 million) earned only $61,649,911.

Depiction of Max Baer

Max Baer is portrayed as a brutal person who behaves inappropriately outside the ring and viciously inside it (to the point of killing two opponents in the ring). Baer's relatives and boxing historians have criticized the film's depiction of him, arguing that he killed one man in the ring, Frankie Campbell, not two (in the film, it is stated that he also caused the – slightly delayed – death of Ernie Schaaf, a common claim by the press at the time, but never proven), and was considered by many to be a gentleman. This is supported by historical evidence which shows that Baer's demeanor, both within and outside the ring, was much less brutal than the film portrayed, and he often cracked jokes.

However, the portrayal of Max Baer's style of boxing in the film is very close to what happened in the actual boxing contest.

The author of the book on which the film was based has asserted that Baer was kind, charismatic, loved and respected, and pointed out the emotional pain that Baer endured the rest of his life following Campbell's death, and the fact that he gave purses from his bouts to Campbell's family to help give Campbell's children an education.

The depiction of Max Baer in the film is no different from his depiction in the press at the time, and this image was often used by promoters to attract interest in his fights. The real Max Baer (who was also an actor) starred as a much more negatively depicted, hostile boxer in the film The Harder They Fall.

Max Baer was actually a Jewish activist – he wore a large Star of David on his boxing shorts in fights. That star makes it easy to distinguish Baer from Braddock in the black and white films of the original boxing contest.

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

• Best Editing (Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill) (Nominated)
• Best Makeup (David LeRoy Anderson, Lance Anderson) (Nominated)
• Best Supporting Actor (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)

BAFTA Award

• Best Original Screenplay (Cliff Hollingsworth, Akiva Goldsman)
• Best Supporting Actor (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)

Golden Globe Award

• Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Russell Crowe) (Nominated)
• Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)

Screen Actors Guild Award

• Outstanding Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Paul Giamatti) (Won)
• Outstanding Actor – Motion Picture (Russell Crowe) (Nominated)

External links

• Cinderella Man at IMDb
• Cinderella Man at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cinderella Man at Metacritic
• Cinderella Man at Box Office Mojo